Chapter 124: You Did It

NORA’S POV

The clock on the wall ticked slowly.

Professor Hastings sat behind his dark mahogany desk, peering over the gold rims of his spectacles at the thick, spiral-bound draft of my thesis proposal. Red ink markings were scattered across the margins, to tell how closely he had scrutinized every single page.

My hands rested flat on my lap over my tailored gray trousers.

For the first time all semester, my palms weren’t sweating. Two days of solid sleep and Knox’s relentless care had really helped.

Hastings tapped a blunt finger against table four.

"You claim your empirical model explains eighty-four percent of the variance in small-business retail margins across New England, Miss Bennett," Hastings began in a flat tone. "Yet in your second regression, your price elasticity coefficients shifted nearly twenty percent between the third and fourth quarters. Defend that."

I knew the question was designed to trip me up.

And I was prepared for it.

"The shift isn’t a statistical anomaly, Professor," I answered clearly. "It’s the direct result of omitted variable bias. Prior models failed to account for the lagged regional freight transportation cost index. When diesel prices spiked in late autumn, shipping surcharges distorted retail pricing behavior. Once I introduced the lagged freight metric into the regression matrix, the variance stabilized and the standard errors dropped below zero-point-zero-two."

Hastings stared at me in silence for five endless seconds.

The low hum of the radiator was the only sound in the office. Slowly, he set his red pen down on the blotter, leaning back into his leather armchair.

"A rigorous econometric adjustment, Miss Bennett," Hastings conceded with a nod. "The honors review committee convenes at two o’clock this afternoon to finalize senior funding allocations. Official determinations will be posted to the student academic portal by five."

He stacked my draft neatly on his desk and nodded toward the door. "Good work today."

"Thank you, Professor."

The cool midday air rushed over me as I exited the building.

Parked along the curb with his hazard lights blinking was Knox’s black truck. The passenger door swung open the second my boots hit the sidewalk, and Knox leaned across the console, his sharp gray eyes searching my face.

"How was it?" he asked, tension tight in his jaw.

I climbed into the passenger seat, the blast of warm air from the vents wrapping around me like a blanket. "I defended the freight index. He didn’t find a single crack in the methodology, but the board doesn’t convene until two. He said decisions will post to the portal by five."

Knox let out a long, heavy breath, a brilliant smirk breaking across his face. He reached over, cupping the back of my neck and pulling me across the console for a fierce, proud kiss.

"Told you," he murmured against my lips. "Now we just have to survive until five o’clock."

Surviving the next four hours proved to be an Olympic sport.

Back at the SinBin, the living room felt like a command center.

Priya was on speakerphone from the law library, analyzing committee precedent and reassuring me that Hastings never praised anyone unless the board was already in the bag.

Bear brought me a glass of ginger ale and a plate of sliced apples, while Jake and Milo hovered near the kitchen doorway, periodically checking the wall clock as if their stares could make the minute hand move faster.

Knox stayed glued to my side.

He sat on the plush sofa with his arm firmly wrapped around my waist, pulling me back against his chest and rubbing slow, soothing circles into my hip whenever my knee started bouncing with nervous energy.

"Breathe, Bookworm," Knox murmured in my ear. "You did the work. It’s done."

At four-fifty-eight, the living room fell dead silent.

I rested my laptop on my knees, my fingers hovering over the trackpad. The Briar University Student Academic Portal was open to the honors departmental dashboard, the status box reading: PENDING FACULTY REVIEW.

Four-fifty-nine.

Five o’clock.

"Refresh it, Nora," Priya urged through the speaker.

With a trembling breath, I clicked the reload icon.

The screen flashed white. A blue loading circle spun in the center.

One second. Two seconds. Three seconds.

The page loaded.

A gold departmental banner populated across the top of the dashboard, followed by bold black text:

HONORS ECONOMICS SENIOR CAPSTONE COMMITTEE

CANDIDATE: NORA BENNETT

STATUS: APPROVED – UNANIMOUS FACULTY ENDORSEMENT

AWARD: SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP & TUITION STIPEND

DISBURSEMENT: APPLIED TO SPRING SEMESTER TUITION ACCOUNT

The air rushed out of my lungs in a sharp, staggering gasp.

"Oh my god," I choked out, pressing both hands over my mouth as tears of pure, blinding relief flooded my eyes. "Knox... Knox, look."

Knox leaned over my shoulder, scanning the screen.

His eyes locked onto the word APPROVED, and a triumphant roar tore from his throat. "SHE GOT IT!" Knox shouted.

The SinBin erupted into pure, chaotic pandemonium.

Bear let out a booming laugh, lifting Milo clean off the floor by his belt loops, while Jake started clapping and cheering into the kitchen. Priya shrieked through the phone speaker, yelling something about celebration drinks.

Before I could even close the laptop, Knox grabbed it, tossed it safely onto the coffee table, and scooped me up into his arms.

He spun me around the living room, lifting me high against his chest as I laughed through a shower of happy tears.

The suffocating terror that had weighed on my chest for weeks... the fear of tuition loans, of letting my mother down, of having to drop out simply evaporated into the warm air.

"You did it, Nora," Knox murmured fiercely against my cheek, kissing away the tears on my skin. "You earned every damn penny of it."

"I did," I whispered, burying my face against his neck, my arms locked around his shoulders. "I really did."

"I’m ordering five large pies from Bella’s," Bear announced over the noise, already tapping frantically on his phone. "Extra garlic knots. Nobody eats clean tonight."

"Put garlic dip on mine or die," Milo yelled from the kitchen, tossing a clean dishtowel at Jake’s head.

"Nora, call your mom!" Priya shouted through the speaker.

My hands shook as I pulled my phone from my pocket and dialed.

It rang twice before my mother picked up, with the faint clinking of baking pans in the background. "Nora, honey? Are you okay? How did the meeting go?"

"Mom," I choked out, a fresh sob catching in my throat. I couldn’t stop the smile that stretched across my face until my cheeks ached. "The honors board approved it. Unanimously. I got the Senior Research Fellowship."

Dead silence hung on the other end of the line for two stunned seconds.

Then, my mother let out a broken, shuddering sob. "Oh, sweetheart... oh, Nora."

I blinked away the tears blurring my vision. "It goes straight to the bursar’s office. Spring tuition is completely covered, Mom. Every single dollar of it. You don’t have to scrape together another dime for this semester."

"You brilliant, beautiful girl," she cried softly. "I knew you could do it. I knew it. Your dad would be so proud of you, Nora. So proud."

Across the living room, Knox leaned against the kitchen doorway, a gentle warmth softening his usual sharp features. He didn’t say anything. He just watched me with so much quiet devotion that my heart swelled.

"Thank you, Mom," I whispered. "I love you so much."

"I love you, baby. Go celebrate. You deserve every bit of this."

I ended the call, pressing the phone against my chest as a long, steady breath filled my lungs.

The front door banged open downstairs, followed by the aroma of garlic, marinara, and melted mozzarella.

"Pizzas are here!" Bear bellowed from the entryway. "Move or starve!"